Missed our chance
by Seriesaddict1
Summary: When Paige learns where Walter is, she feels betrayed. But does she have any right to feel this way?
1. Chapter 1

SCORPION - MISSED OUR CHANCE - One Shot

 _ **Okay so I know that I currently have a Waige story to finish but the more I think about last episode, the more I feel like writing angsty things (and I know I'm not the only one, the best thing about this last episode is all the good stories you guys wrote in here). So I came up with this and I have to warn you, this is probably not going to heal the Waige wound. I just think that this romantic plot should be over by now, either by getting them together, either by deciding to stop it all. Enjoy it anyway, and leave me feedbacks :)**_

When Paige asked were was Walter, something she asked on a daily base, if not twice a day, she didn't expected Toby to lie to her so obviously, even less to eventually reveal her that...

 _"Okay Paige he is on a date."_

" _On a ... What ? With who? Since when is Walter dating?"_

 _« I'm sorry._ _He didn't want you to know. Frankly I didn't want you to know either. But you're kind of scary when you want to know the truth. Maybe you should spend less time with Happy, women are too scary around here, you're supposed to be..."_

 _"Cut the crap Toby, and answer my question will you?"_

 _« See, you're doing it right now! »_

Paige shot Toby a glare that immediately made him start to talk about what she wanted to know.

 _"I don't know much more than you, he just told me that he started seeing someone when he... When he understood that it wasn't his right place to question your personal life. And that he_ _was_ _seeing her tonight. But he didn't even want to tell me her name."_

Paige felt he was still lying to her about some things and that he knew more than what he said but she didn't have the strength to argue. She should be relieved that Walter finally decided to stop interfering with her relationship with Tim, which was still on track despite his new job. She should be happy that he moved on and found someone too. So why did she felt so betrayed? She couldn't think of anything but the pain she felt at Toby's words. She had no right to feel this way considering she was the one who decided to have this lasting relationship with another man that Walter, so why couldn't she help it?

 _"Okay then I guess I'll see him tomorrow."_ She said with the most neutral voice she could take right now.

 _"Paige are you okay?"_

 _"Yeah I'm fine thanks._ _»_

The lie was obvious. Even her could hear that her tone sounded fake. And she cursed herself for not knowing how to hide her emotions better because she knew the behaviorist wouldn't drop it.

 _"Are you really okay?"_ Toby insisted. _"I could understand if you weren't you know. Walter dating someone else than you must be quiet a shock."_

Of course she wanted to tell him that she was sad and that she even wanted to be angry about it but that would make her the most selfish woman on earth right?

 _"I don't see why I should be upset with Walter's private life. I'm with Tim now, he can date whoever the hell he wants, I'm perfectly okay with this._ _»_

 _« Okay… Just… Be careful please. »_

 _« About what? »_

 _« Talking to him about this. He is finally moving on, trying his shot to happiness. Don't destroy it all. »_

 _« I didn't intend to… »_ talk to him about this she wanted to say. But who was she kidding? Of course she was going to talk to him about this. She knew herself, if she tried to avoid the subject, things between Walter and her would be even more awkward than they already were and she would blurt an allusion out of nowhere and they would have to talk about it in the end. _« Okay Toby, I'll be careful. »_

He nodded to her and went back to whatever he was doing before. As for Paige, she left the garage to go pick Ralph at the sitter's and went straight home after this. She had troubles sleeping this night, picturing Walter with another woman than her, and wanting to kick herself for being jealous when she was with another man. At this moment, she understood what Walter felt after Tahoe, and she thought she shouldn't have been this angry at him for trying to sabotage their relationship because it was exactly what she wanted to do now. Except she wouldn't actually do it because she was always preaching for an honest talk rather than actions with hidden attentions, and that was what she intended to have with Walter. A good honest talk which would fix everything.

The next morning, when Paige arrived to the garage, she was surprised to ran across a pretty brunette, who was just about to get out.

 _Hi, can I help you? »_

 _« Oh hi! You must be Paige. No thanks I was just leaving. »_

 _« Okay… and you are? »_

 _« Oh yeah I forgot, I'm Iris. Very nice to meet you. »_

And she left without saying more. She really was pretty, Paige thought. And she seemed confident and smart. But they only exchanged a few words so Paige couldn't judge if she liked her yet. Besides, if she was the one Walter saw, her judgment might be a little biased. She wondered how she knew her name. Does Walter really talk about her to his new girlfriend? But after all she decided it wasn't so strange since there isn't a day with Tim where Walter didn't came up in the conversation. Maybe he just told her about his job and his team. But to be certain, she had to go talk to him. She came early to the garage on purpose so the rest of the team wasn't here yet. She quickly went upstairs and knocked on Walter's door.

 _« Iris? Did you forgot something? »_ he said before opening. Then he saw Paige and was first surprised but he rapidly got himself together.

 _« Oh hi Paige. What are you doing here so early? »_

 _« I… Can I come in? I think we need to talk. »_

 _« Sure, come in. »_

Walter seemed different, she thought. He was more confident and he wasn't acting weirdly, or didn't seem embarrassed, like he usually does when he is around her. It should have been a good thing but she was a bit worried about what this meant.

 _« So, what do you want to talk about? »_

 _« I just… Well first you and I both noticed that relations between us are not at their best since Tim left. And I don't want things to be like that anymore. I miss you Walter. »_

 _« Yeah I thought about that too. I miss you too and I've made a huge work on myself you know. I really want thing to be back to what they were between us before all this happened. »_

Did he meant that he wanted them to be friends like they used to be or did he meant that he wanted them to … start flirting with each other again? None of this made sense to Paige.

 _« So if we're both cool with this, let's forget all these fights over nothing and go downstairs take a breakfast okay? »_

How could she be cool with this? These fights over **nothing** he said? How could he consider their feelings to be nothing?

 _« Unless you have something else to tell me? »_

 _« Uh no… let's go… take breakfast. »_

God when did they reversed the roles like this? Since when was he the one doing all the talk and she was the one paralyzed, not daring to express her feelings? She had something else to tell.

 _« Wait actually Walter, I do have something else I want to ask you. »_

 _« Yeah I'm listening? »_

 _« Who… who is Iris? »_

 _« Oh. You met her I presume? »_ Paige nodded. _« Well after Christmas I wasn't doing okay at all so I went to see Toby for some therapy or anything that could help me. He told me that if I really wanted help, I should go to someone who isn't my friend and knows nothing about me because he wouldn't be perfectly objective. So he addressed me to Iris, she's a psychiatrist. »_

Some hope was growing back into Paige. She felt sad that Walter wasn't well to the point that he needed to see someone, and angry that she couldn't see it herself. But if this woman was just one of Toby's colleague, and her relation with Walter was strictly professional maybe their talk could take another turn. But…

 _« And do you often have sessions with your therapist this early in the morning? »_

« _Well she's not my therapist anymore. You see she… she is really smart. She isn't a genius but she know a lot about us and we get along well. So after one of our meeting I… I asked her out and she said yes. We met a few times after this and… I don't know Paige she just seems to understand me so well… I guess she was there for me when I thought no-one was and now… Well this is still all new for me and I feel awkward saying this but I think we can say that we are together now. »_

Paige felt crushed on the inside, like every single words Walter pronounced was ripping all of her organs one by one like a knife, and that her heart was slowly bleeding out. Walter must have noticed she wasn't feeling well because he brought her a chair and made her sit down.

 _« Paige are you okay? »_

 _« Yeah I just… Who am I kidding, no I'm not. Please don't do this. Don't give up on us Walter. »_

Walter's expression came from interrogative to angry and Paige has to say she was a little scared by this look he had in his eyes. She never saw him like this before.

« _How can you say this now? Do you enjoy watching me suffer? »_

 _« No no I don't want you to ever think that. I just… when I said that I don't want things to be like this anymore I meant that I … I think I want to be with you Walter. I want us to try. »_

 _« It isn't fair of you to decide that you want to be with me when I finally move on with someone else. This isn't how it works. You made it very clear to me when you started dating Tim. And I'm sorry but she makes me happy. She accepted me as I am and was very patient with me, even when all I could talk to her about at first was you. I'm not going to leave her. Can't you just be happy for me?»_

Paige didn't bother holding back her tears. Not that she wanted him to pity her, but she just knew he was right, she never thought about a future where he stopped fighting for her, but there it was, and she had no right no want things to be another way.

 _« I'm sorry Walter. I just assumed… »_

 _«_ _What did you_ _assumed_ _? That I would watch you have your nice little relationship with Tim, that I would let this hurt me every single day until you finally decide that you're tired of your shiny boy toy and that you want me after all ? Who do you think you are to expect me to wait for you my whole life ?_ _»_

Paige didn't know why but at this moment, she thought about her mother. She would be so disappointed. She liked Walter so much and made it pretty clear she wanted the two of them together. But for once, she didn't ruin everything. Paige had no troubles doing this on her own. She thought about her little boy too. It would be so hard on him to see the one he considered as his father with another woman than his mother. He would never understand. Like he was reading his mind, Walter said :

 _« Don't worry about Ralph. I'll always consider him as my son and I'll always have time for him. »_ he paused before adding : _« I'll always have time for you too you know. »_

Paige raised her head to risk looking at him. He didn't seem angry anymore, he had a gentle look, with a shade of sadness. Paige blamed herself for being so busy with her relationship with Tim that she didn't noticed how changed was Walter. He seemed to be in control of his emotions now, he was less afraid of talking honestly and he was actually the one comforting her right now. Maybe this woman was really good for him. Better than she was. Walter knelt in front of her and took her hands.

 _"We missed our chance at being happy together._ _And_ _I'm_ _so_ _sorry_ _we did_ _._ _But y_ _ou'll always be my best friend._ _»_

 _ **Of course I know things won't go this way and Walter and Paige will have their happy ending but still, I think something like this would bother me less than the last episode. Have a lovely christmas!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey guys! I was planning this story to be only a one shot but I got a lot of positive feedbacks on this story so I decided to make this a three chapters story with eventually a happy ending for those who asked for it. Although this chapter will**_ _ **be mostly angsty again**_ _ **. Thanks again for all the reviews, I probably said it before but I'm so happy to see I can trigger reactions like this with my writing. I'm also sorry if Paige seems a little "bitchy" in this chapter**_ _ **or if I'm being hard on her**_ _ **. I just think she**_ _ **can have**_ _ **pretty radical reactions when it comes to Walter, plus I'm a little bit angry at her since last episode ahah but I still love her**_ _ **don't get me wrong**_ _ **.**_

It's been a week since Walter confessed to Paige about Iris. She still didn't what to do about it. A part of her wanted him to be happy with her, and wished she could be able to move on from this and take things back to the way they were with Tim. Because she was still with him, but he sensed something was off with her and their talks were colder than usual, which is even more of a problem when you live thousands of kilometers from one another. Also, another part, a really big part, of her knew that if they could make things work, Walter and her would be happier together than with anyone else. They would have to hurt a few people in their way to happiness, and they should do some concessions to adapt to each other, but that was a price she was willing to pay. She was still angry at herself for not reacting sooner, that way she could have prevented from offending a lot of people, but she knew self pity would lead her nowhere. She always had been someone to fight for what she believed in, and for the one she loved, and though she might have got distracted from her purpose for a time, she was more than ever determined to earn what she wanted the most : a true family of her own, with Ralph and Walter.

But things were becoming harder and harder to figure out and today wouldn't help Paige. Because today was the day Walter decided to officially introduce Iris to the rest of the team. He told everybody the day before that he wanted them to all have diner together this night because he wanted them to meet someone special to him. And though he didn't say clearly that it was her, Paige wasn't a fool.

Around 7 pm, Walter indeed came into the garage with the beautiful psychiatrist holding his hand. It made Paige boil on this inside, because holding Walter's hand meant a lot to her. Before everything went south, he would often take her hand, to seek reassurance. His touch was always warm and soft, and seeing that someone else than her had this privilege all to herself made her want to cry.

 _« Hi everyone, let me introduce you Iris. Some of you already know her. »_ He glanced

at Paige, like he was afraid that she might do or say something stupid, so she gave him her most convincing 'everything is fine' look.

 _Iris, it's been a while! I'm so glad you're the one Walter chose for his therapy. I would have chose you too, and I'm not saying this because you look absolutely stunning. »_ Toby said. Happy kicked him in the ribs for that. _« Come on Hap'! She's an old friend and you can't say she isn't good looking! »_

« _Hi Toby, I'm happy to see you too. »_ Iris gave him a hug and then turned to the other members of the team. « _You must be Happy, Sylvester and Cabe, glad to meet you, and you Paige, we only met for a short time so I hope we'll me able to talk more today! »_

Paige gave her a weak smile, still not sure if she should like Iris or hate her. Deep in her thoughts, she hadn't notice Ralph sneaking behind her to see who this new stranger was.

 _« Oh, I take it you're Ralph right? Walter told me so much about you, I'm so glad I can finally meet this mini him in person. »_

She offered her hand but Ralph wouldn't take it. He just gave her a curious look for a while before saying :

 _« I'm sorry but… who are you? »_

 _« Well I'm Iris… »_

 _« I did get your name already. What I didn't get is… who are you? I mean why are you here? »_

Anybody would have been destabilized by the little boy's words, they were rude, even for a kid, but Iris wasn't. She brought back her hand to her side and smiled down at Ralph.

 _« Yeah well I'm not a genius like most of you guys but I went to Harvard with Toby and… »_

 _« So if you're Toby's friend why is Walter introducing you to us? »_

Before she could answer again, Walter interrupted the talk he was just being a witness of so far.

 _« She was my psychiatrist and now we're dating. Anybody has other questions? »_ he quickly said, clearly not wanting to stretch on the matter.

Paige felt again this unpleasant feeling, yes, jealousy, at the idea that he didn't have to think twice before saying they were dating. Even her had troubles admitting that she was dating Tim for a short while at first.

 _« I sure do have a lot of questions, but let's leave them for dinner shall we? »_ initiated Cabe, feeling the tension building up.

 _« Yeah sure, »_ Walter said, _« I have to go to the loft to uh… to change but make yourself comfortable, I'll be back in a minute. »_

 _« Okay. »_ answered Iris, letting go of his hand.

While Walter was upstairs, Iris mostly talked with Toby, the two of them catching up and reminiscing anecdotes from college. Paige was listening the talks, only speaking when she had to answer questions from Iris, which were obviously polite questions in order to loosen the atmosphere since Paige was pretty sure Walter already told everything about her life, judging by Iris reactions. She seemed nice though, typically the type of friend Paige could have had. But they could never be friend. Not as long as she was with the man she loved. After a short while, Walter came down and everybody sat down at the large table of the garage to eat.

Dinner went okay, Iris told them a lot of funny anecdotes from patients and everybody seemed to enjoy her company. Paige couldn't lie, she did too, she sometimes almost forget that she didn't want to like this woman, well until she put her hand on Walter's thigh or whatever physical contact they would have that would remind her of what she was missing.

After the desert, everybody got occupied with something : Cabe left the garage to go home, Walter was showing Iris around the garage and Ralph went to work on a project with Happy and Sylvester, leaving Paige alone in her chair. But not for long since Toby came to sit next to her, contemplating her for a few seconds before daring saying anything.

 _« She's nice right? »_

 _« Yeah she is. »_

 _« It took you that to make you realize that you're in love with him right? »_

 _« I guess it did. »_

 _« Then Walter and you are not so different from one another. It took him Tim to realize he was in love with you. »_

 _« I_ _'m getting him back._ _»_

 _«_ _He tried that with you, you wouldn't let him. What makes you think he will let you?_ _»_

 _«_ _Nothing. I'll just do it._ _»_

 _«_ _Take my advice_ _…"_

 _«_ _No I won't take your advice! Look at us Toby! We've always listened to you and look where we are. Your advices are shit, it only prevented us for talking honestly to each other and reveal our feelings. You want us to be happy? Don't give us advices_ _. »_

He was hurt. She knew it. She didn't care. At least at the moment. She would care eventually, regret to have talk to him like this and apologize. But later, right now she was angry.

 _«_ _Hey Paige. I want both of_ _you_ _to be happy, but Walter's my best friend and was_ _already_ _before you came in here. So most of all I want_ _ **him**_ _to be happy. And he seems to be_ _doing good_ _right now so think twice before doing anything stupid._ _»_

 _« You know I would have left Tim for him anytime if he just talked to me. »_

 _« Then why didn't you? After the whole space thing. »_

 _« I meant really talk to me, not in hallucinations, for real. »_

 _« And why didn't you dump Tim and talked to Walter yourself if you knew you would have chose him anytime? »_

 _« I don't know I… »_

 _« Yeah that's what I thought. You know what I love you Paige, you've always been a good friend and you're one of the best things that happened to Scorpion, you'll always be. And Walter always thought he didn't deserve you but the truth is you don't deserve him. »_

Paige was about to just leave and go home to cry her eyes out all night after this, but Walter and Iris walked back to them at this exact moment.

 _« Well thanks again for this lovely evening, I'll be leaving now but I hope I'll see you again sometime. »_

Everybody said goodbye to Iris but Paige wasn't paying attention anymore. She seemed oblivious to what happened around her, like in some sort of black out.

 _« Hey Paige. Paige! Earth to Paige? »_

Paige shook her head to see Walter was staring at her, a worried look on his face.

 _« I'm sorry what? »_

 _« Iris was telling you goodbye but you just snapped off or something. »_

 _« Oh I'm sorry, I'm just very tired. You're welcome back here anytime Iris. »_

 _« Thanks Paige. I wanted you to know that I talked a little to Ralph earlier, and what a wonderful son you have. »_

 _« Yeah I know. »_

Then Iris and Walter started saying goodbye to each other and that was too much for Paige to take so she went to grab her stuff. After Iris finally left, that wasn't long until Walter was back to Paige.

 _« Are you okay? You really seemed odd back there. »_

 _« Yeah I'm alright, like I said I'm just tired so Ralph and I will go home and I will have a goodnight sleeping. »_

 _« There is no way I let you drive, you truly seem exhausted. You can sleep into my bed tonight with Ralph, I'll sleep on the couch. »_

Walter expected her to argue, to say that it was okay, that she didn't want to bother him, or at least that she would take the couch and he could have the bed, but she just nodded and followed him upstairs. Something was definitely not right.

 _« You can make yourself comfortable, I'll go tell Ralph and he'll be joining you in a few minutes. »_

 _« Thanks a lot Walter. »_

 _« You know I never mind having you here. »_

He was just about to left when Paige blurted it, out of nowhere.

 _«_ _Do you love her ?_ _»_

 _« What do you mean? »_

 _« You know what I mean. Iris. Do you love her? »_

 _«_ _Love doesn't exist._ _»_

 _«_ _Are you really back to this ?_ _»_

 _«_ _Yeah I am. I tried to believe in love I realized that it doesn't mean anything. There is need and attachment but there is no such thing as love._ _»_

 _« I love you. »_ she said matter of factly. _« There is such thing as love, I know it for a fact. Because I can feel it. »_

Walter was shocked at her statement. Of course they talked about the fact that she was not okay with him dating someone else, but he never dared to imagine she could say this. But he managed to keep calm and stoic. A few month ago he would have panic, not knowing what to say, but he was emotionally grown up now. He had to keep his head cold.

 _«_ _What about Tim ?_ _»_

 _«_ _What about him?_ _»_

 _«_ _Did you dump him like he never meant anything?_ _»_

 _«_ _I didn't_ _dump him… »_

 _«_ _Are you kidding me Paige ? You're telling me this while you're still with him?_ _»_

 _«_ _Well I didn't know how to_ _…"_

 _«_ _You just think that if your plan to win me back fails you can go back to him like none of this happen and he wouldn't know anything? I hope I'm wrong because if I'm not I would be truly disappointed in you_ _… »_

 _«_ _No!_ _That is not…"_

 _«_ _What is it then?_ _»_

 _«_ _I don't know! I don't want to hurt him, I haven't figured out how to speak to him yet_ _. »_

 _«_ _Well_ _d_ _o things in the right order. You don't come to a man saying that you love him while you're still with another._ _»_

Walter really seemed angry, he was about to leave the room but for the second time Paige's words held him back.

 _« What about you? »_

 _« What about me? »_

 _« What are you gonna do? »_

Walter took a deep breath, calming down and looking into Paige's eyes again. He seemed so mature she thought. He was nothing like the Walter she first met at this dinner. But he only changed in a good way. And good for him, not good for her, because even if she sometimes led him to think so, she never expected him to change for her. She only wanted him to be able to reach happiness. Did he managed to do so with Iris? She still didn't know, but she trusted he would make the good choice for him now that he held all the cards. If he chose to stay with Iris even after her opening up to him like this, well then she would have to respect it she guessed. She should let him be happy, no matter what the consequences were for her.

 _« I don't know Paige. »_

 _I'm sorry our timing is always so bad. I wish things were different. »_

 _« I know. Me too. Let me sleep on it okay? I need to think about a lot of things. We have people around us you know, people that we care about and that might get hurt by our choices. We can't make them thinking only about us. Anyway you need some sleep too. Goodnight Paige. »_

Walter was at the door but as they say, never two without three, Paige made him froze one last time.

 _« I'm so proud of you Walter. »_

 _« For what? »_

Paige just shrugged as an answer.

 _« Goodnight Walter. »_

 _ **I hope you liked it, as always you know what to do to let me know ;) I have no idea when I'll be able to post the last chapter, but I'm guessing it will be in 2017 so I wish you all a happy new year until then!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hi everyone! So this is the third and last chapter for this story, I'll also try to finish 'Too smart to be happy' by the end of the week because I'm back to work so I'd rather keep just the weekly one shots (of course there will be one tomorrow). Thanks a lot for all the nice reviews on this story, it really motivates me to do better chapter and work on my writing! I think I improved a little since I first came here to write so a big thank you to you all and enjoy this :)**_

'Sleep on it.' Walter was wondering why he was still using that expression because every time he needed to sleep on something, well in fact he didn't get any sleep at all. It was more like 'Be up all night asking yourself what should you do and exploring every single possible scenario on it'. He felt like he was in a dead end, stuck between his new nice relationship with Iris, and the feelings he still had for Paige. Of course, Iris was pretty, smart and they could even have fun together, and there is not a lot of person on earth who can have fun with Walter O'Brien. But he was afraid that it was only the rush of discovering something new that did this to him, and that it would eventually fade away with time. He always had these concerns but he was willing to give it a shot. Until Paige told him that she loved him. He wanted to be mad at her but she only made the same mistake he made before. He waited until she was dating Tim to try to stop her and sabotage things. And he may have never clearly told her that he loved her like she just did but everyone on the team knew it and she would be terribly bad at her job of dealing with people if she didn't notice it herself. In fact he was pretty sure she knew he still had feelings for her. But she chose Tim anyway. So why shouldn't he chose Iris?

No, he thought, he shouldn't use her to get back at Paige for the pain he felt seeing her with Tim. He should have learnt a lesson from his own experience, and try to make things better, and not to hurt Paige the way she hurt him. After all he did make a promise to Ralph.

Indeed, after he left Paige, he went to look for Ralph downstairs and the time that he finishes what he was doing with Sly and Happy and they got back to his loft, the liaison was already asleep. Walter smiled when he saw that she borrowed one of his t shirts and closed the door, resisting the temptation of staying by her side just to contemplate her. She really was beautiful when she slept. God what this woman did to him…

He didn't want Ralph to wake her up so he put the mattress Toby slept on when he had to sleep with Happy next to the couch and to two boys settled for the night. Although he knew Paige wouldn't want her son to be up late, he missed their boys nights so they talked about science, astronomy, they did riddles and various quiz until an advanced hour. After a moment, Ralph was feeling sleepy so they stopped it, turned the lights off and went to sleep. But as Walter thought the little boy was already asleep, this one asked him the exact same question his mom asked him earlier.

 _«_ _Do you love her ?_ _»_

 _«_ _Who ?_ _»_

 _«_ _Iris_ _. »_

Walter had to think about a proper answer to this question. He couldn't give the Ralph the same answer he gave to Paige because he knew she wouldn't like him to discredit what she tries to learn to her son and deny the possible existence of love.

 _«_ _I... I don't think that the feelings I have towards Iris can be described as love no. But I like her._ _»_

 _«_ _But you love my mom right?_ _»_

Wow, that was another tricky question. At the moment, his guts told him to say yes, he almost had to refrain himself from answering without thinking, but could he really admit that to Ralph? He knew that in spite of his abnegation for love, he did have love her. He couldn't find any other word fitting what he felt for Paige. But the question was in the present, so could he say that he still loves her? He will always care about her of course, but does his heart still ache every time she walks into a room? Does his mind still want to shut down and kiss her to taste these beautiful lips of hers once again every time they would talk to each other? Okay, in fact the answers to those questions were pretty easy. Much easier than he thought.

 _«_ _Yes Ralph, I do love her._ _»_

 _«_ _Then I don't get it. She loves you, this is so obvious I just know it, and you're telling me now that you love her too so why are you both with different people?_ _»_

Yeah, million dollar question, Walter thought. He wanted to tell him that he asked himself this very question a thousand times after he remembered the things they told each other in space, even though he never had the guts to tell her about this, too afraid that she would say she didn't mean it, that it was just to bring him back. But once again, this answer wasn't appropriated for Ralph.

 _« I_ _t's ... It's complicated you know. Some times two people who love each other just can't be together_ _because they would just hurt each other_ _. They_ _'_ _re_ _… they're just_ _not meant to be_ _.»_

 _«_ _Yeah but you and mom are! Just tell me Walter, when you picture your future, do you see it with this Iris girl?_ _»_

Walter never thought about this. Of course he considered several times a future where he was with Paige, and Ralph was his son but it was mostly fantasies to him, he never really asked himself what he thought his future would be like. He stopped doing that a while ago, deciding to live one day after another, trying to do as many good as he could in the present and think about the rest later. So he tried to picture a future with Iris but nothing plausible came to his mind.

 _« Well… I don't… I don't think so… »_

 _« You say they if you and mom were together you would hurt each other but can't you see that it's being apart that hurts most the both of you? »_

 _« I never wanted things to be this way Ralph. »_

 _« Yeah I know. Because you would never hurt my mom on purpose right? »_

 _« Of course! Remember what I always tell you? If there is one thing I can promise you it's that I will always do my best so that you and your mom are happy. »_

 _« Then keep your promise. You know what would make both of us happy. »_

 _« It's not this si… »_

 _« Goodnight Walter. »_

And there he was, three hours later, still not able to sleep, repeating the boy's words into his head, again and again. This is going to be a long night…

—

When she woke up, it took Paige a few seconds to remember where she was, and what the situation was. It was the scent of Walter on the shirt she wore that cleared her thoughts. She had only one idea in mind for now : speaking to Tim. She had to end it before it was too late.

She got up and went looking for Ralph, who was still asleep on the mattress Walter installed for him. She smiled at the sight of her son sleeping and decided note to awake him for now. She was starving so she could use a breakfast first.

When she arrived in the small kitchen, Walter was already here, sipping his coffee.

 _« Hey. »_

 _« Oh hey! I… I made some pancakes. I have to warn you they… well they taste awful but I wanted to… you know… »_

 _« Thanks Walter that's sweet. »_

She went to pour her own cup of coffee and when she turned around she caught Walter staring at her so he brutally turned, pretending to look at something else, spilling half of his drink of the floor. Paige laughed, but she wasn't laughing at him, no it was more like a laugh of relief to see that the clumsy and babbling Walter was back. **Her** Walter.

 _« Do you mind if I let Ralph sleep her a little longer? He must be exhausted since you and him talked late last night. »_

Walter took an innocent face but Paige added :

« _Don't even try. I heard you laughing while I was in a half sleep. »_

Walter was now blushing, hopping that she only heard the laughs and not their last conversation.

 _« Sorry. »_

 _« That's okay. I'm glad you two are spending time together actually. I think he misses you as much as I do. »_

Walter wanted to answer something but Paige didn't let him the time.

« _Anyway I have to go order my personal life you know. We speak later? »_

 _« Sure, if you want to go home I can watch Ralph. »_

 _« I think I'll stay here for now if you don't mind. Toby and Happy are taking the weekend and Sylvester and Cabe are making plans for the campaign so no-one will bother me. »_

 _« Oh… Okay. »_

Paige went downstairs in order to Skype Tim. It was 8 am here so it was like 6 pm in Jordan. Maybe she should wait a little, he probably didn't finish his day of work yet. So she just sat at her office, filling some paperwork and thinking about what she could tell to her future ex boyfriend.

After a few minutes, someone entered in the garage and when she lifted her head, Paige was surprised to see Iris.

 _« Oh hi Iris, here to see Walter? »_ she said, trying her best to sound friendly.

 _« Yes I am. »_ Iris replied while approaching. Then she stopped and looked at Paige. _« Oh. I see things went pretty fast once I was gone. »_

Paige didn't understand at first but then she followed Iris gaze and looked at herself, realizing that she didn't bother changing so she was still wearing Walter's t shirt.

 _« Oh god no! That's not what you think! I didn't feel well last night so Walter offered me to stay and I didn't have any stuff here so… »_

 _« Hey that's okay. I was just joking. Is he upstairs?»_

 _« Yes he is. »_

Iris started to work her way to Walter's loft when Paige couldn't hold herself anymore from asking her something.

 _« Can I ask you something? »_

 _« Sure, what is it? »_

 _« It's just that… Walter mentioned to me that he talked to you a lot about me during you sessions and I was wondering… what did he tell you? »_

 _« Are you aware than telling you this would break my oath? Professional secrecy and all? »_

 _« Oh yeah, sorry, never mind. »_

 _« Though he might have said some things to me while he was no longer my patient. »_

 _« Oh. Did he? »_

 _« Look Paige I can't tell you all the things he said to me, if you really want to know you'll have to ask him yourself. But what I can tell him is that I first the only things he could say about you were pure facts about your life, and I had to work him up for hours for him to talk about his feelings for you. And what he thought being your feelings for him. »_

Paige was starting to feel uncomfortable. The t shirt she felt so well in a few minutes ago started to scratch and the only thing she wanted was this woman to be out of her sight right now.

 _« Okay. Thanks. »_

 _« Listen Paige I don't want to sound unfriendly, or jealous or anything. I know what you had with Walter was special and I can hardly compete with this. Besides, you seem nice and considering how much Walter values you and your son, I can only like you. And you know I'm not saying that Walter and I will end up our lives together but when he first came to me he was broken and I had to put all the pieces together myself. Please don't ruin all the work we've done. Let him move on. I know you won't do it for me because we hardly know each other, but do it for him. »_

Now Paige was really feeling dizzy. She turned her back on Iris so she wouldn't see her eyes becoming red and went to the couch. Sure Walter was broken because of her, she blamed herself enough already, but she was broken too now. And who would pick the pieces up for her? Tim? Certainly not. Thinking about the fact that they were still together was too much right now. She had to end this now, no matter what Walter was doing with his girlfriend upstairs, and the quicker the better for everyone.

She went back to her desk to pick her laptop and launched the call.

 _« Hey Paige, I wasn't expected you so early! »_ said Tim, before realizing her eyes were red from crying. _« What's wrong? Is everyone okay? Is it Ralph? »_

 _« No no, don't worry, Ralph is fine, everybody else is fine. »_

 _« Then why have you been crying? »_

 _« Because I'm such a mess right now, I really wish I could explain to you but I don't really feel like having a long talk about it so I'm just going to say it… »_

 _« What are you trying to say there? »_

 _« Well let me finish and you'll know. What I'm trying to say is that… This isn't going to work. You and me. I'm glad we gave it a chance and I'm so sincerely sorry to end things like this but I just can't. It's not fair. To any of us. »_

 _« Is it because of Walter? »_

 _« No… I mean yes… Partly. »_

 _« Son of a bitch I knew the minute I would be gone he would do anything to get you back! »_

 _« Don't. Just don't. »_

 _« Tell me I'm wrong, he was so glad I left so he could have you all to himself! »_

 _« Well you're wrong! He is dating someone else Tim. He respected me and he respected you. So stop being an ass. »_

 _« Why then? »_

 _« Because as much as I like you I realized how this was wrong. I realized I still had feelings for him and it's not okay staying with you if I think of another man. I'm truly sorry believe me. »_

 _« Well… not as much as I am… »_

 _« Is it okay if I call you back another time to talk a little better about it? I'm not feeling really well and besides I have to take Ralph home. »_

 _« Okay… Take care of you then. »_

 _« Yeah you too. Bye. »_

She shut her laptop and started to think about what her next move should be. All she wanted right now was go home and stay in her bed for the day with hot milk and an old movie. But first she had to get change and wake up Ralph. She considered whether or not she should go upstairs while Walter and Iris were there but she knew that Walter would never do something inappropriate with Ralph next to him so went anyway. She could hear them talking into Walter's bedroom without discerning the words and she didn't want to interrupt so she tiptoed to Ralph who was finally up, playing on Walter's computer.

« _Honey we're going home. »_

 _« Let me just finish this game please. »_

Paige rolled her eyes but didn't argue. She was about to sat down next to her son when Iris burst out of the bedroom.

 _« I guess the people who do the hard work never get the reward do they? »_ she said, aiming directly at Paige who stayed with her mouth wide open, not understanding what she implied. Walter followed her, a concerned look on his face.

 _« Let me walk you to your car. »_

 _« No that's okay I can show myself off. I think you have some talking to do with this one. I'll see you on therapy when all goes down. »_

 _« Are you mad at me? »_

Iris's look softened.

 _« No don't worry. The heart wants what is wants. Take care of you Walter O'Brien. »_ Then she turned again to Paige. _« And take care of him too. »_

And with that she left, leaving Paige unsure of what she just witnessed.

 _« What the hell is going on here? »_

 _« Come here, let's talk privately. »_

Paige gazed at Ralph who was still absorbed by the computer and followed Walter to his bedroom. He was about to start talking but when he looked at Paige's face he noticed her eyes.

« _Have you been crying? What happened? »_

 _« Nothing… Don't worry… Go on explain me what did I just see. »_

Ignoring her Walter put his hands to her face and cleaned the few mascara traces she had on her cheek.

 _« So have you put in order you private life? »_

 _« Yeah I broke up with Tim. »_

 _« How did he take it? »_

 _« We didn't have much chance to talk about it but he seemed okay. »_

 _« That's good. »_

 _« I didn't do it for you for the record. I mean not only. I did it for me, because I couldn't bear to lie to myself anymore. »_

 _« I know. The same thing happened here. »_

Paige stared at Walter in shock. Of course what she witnessed looked a lot like a broke up scene but she didn't realize until now.

« _I've thought a lot about it and I came up with the conclusion that even though we missed our chance before, there is this thing called second chances. And I'm not letting this one go. »_

Unable to speak, Paige just smiled at him, starting to cry again but this time of happiness.

 _« So what do you say Paige? Do you still wanna do this? »_ he asked, looking at her expectantly.

 _« More than ever. »_

And with that she leaned into him to capture his lips, and the kissed they shared just wiped out all of her doubts and fears. Man, how the second chances tasted great.

 _ **I was planning on posting it earlier but I didn't have the time to finish it. Anyway that's the end of the story, thanks for reading and have a nice watching of Scorpion tonight ;)**_


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